So I've been playing around with microcontrollers and circuits for several years now and have to this point used perforated prototyping boards. I am a hobbyist and have a project I would like to design a circuit board for and have the board manufactured. Initially I'm only going to be using through hole components. The boards I would be having made would be smallish ones, maybe 3" x 3". So, that brings up a couple questions:

1. Recommendations for a decent free software for designing PCB's?

2. A vendor for producing PCB's in low quantities (<10) at decent prices?

I've done a little researching and there are so many options for both of these questions that I am just a bit overwhelmed. I'm thinking there may be a vendor out there catering to the maker crowd. I'm not sure how much location plays into this, but I'm located Just outside of Chicago, Illinois, USA, if it makes a difference.

Thanks

John Brannen